Big Money Still Learning to Lobby

By JENNY ANDERSON

Published: March 13, 2007

On a cold evening in late January, Senator Charles E. Schumer invited a who's who of hedge funds to dinner at Bottega del Vino on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. More than $100 billion worth of wealth sat around the table, including Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Capital; Steven Cohen of SAC Capital; Stanley Druckenmiller of Duquesne Capital; and James Chanos of Kynikos Capital, according to a person who was briefed on the dinner.

Mr. Schumer, the New York Democrat, had some simple advice for the billionaires in his midst: If you want Washington to work with you, you had better work better with one another. (Mr. Schumer and the hedge fund managers declined to comment).

While hedge funds confidently flex their muscles in the markets and in boardrooms, in Washington they are experiencing the awkward growing pains of a relatively new industry coming to grips with its own power. Some hedge funds like D. E. Shaw and Cerberus Capital Management have spent time and money in the capital, but most funds have been content to hope Washington will not rear its regulatory head.

Now, united by a desire to avoid stringent regulation and a healthy sense of competition -- there are three hedge fund lobbying groups -- the industry seems resigned to no longer being a wallflower and looks set to join the dance with Congress.

So far the industry's efforts have witnessed remarkable results. More than two years after the Securities and Exchange Commission required that funds register with the agency -- a move overturned by a federal appeals court last summer -- the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, Congress and the S.E.C. seem to agree: hedge funds are as regulated today as they should be.

''They've been extraordinarily effective in lobbying, which is pretty amazing given Long-Term Capital Management and the number of other cases involving problems with hedge funds,'' said David Tittsworth, head of the Investment Adviser Association, a group which represents registered investment advisers. ''The hedge fund industry -- whoever they are and whoever is representing them -- has been successful in fighting a centralized and comprehensive regulatory scheme.''

Their efforts, though, may have more to do with an unusually benign environment for regulation than any well-oiled and deep-pocketed campaign. Henry M. Paulson Jr., the Treasury secretary, was chief executive of Goldman Sachs, which services hedge funds and runs its own hedge funds; the Federal Reserve continues to take a hands-off attitude toward hedge funds; and the Democratic chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Christopher J. Dodd comes from Connecticut, home to a large number of hedge funds.

For an industry drenched in money -- hedge funds manage more than $1.4 trillion today -- hedge funds have spent a pittance on winning over Washington. From 1998 through 2006, 15 hedge funds -- the sum total of those that have registered their activity -- have spent $7.7 million lobbying Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The top spender on lobbying is Cerberus Capital Management, a hedge fund better known for its private equity investments. Cerberus spent $2.1 million from 2001 through 2006. Issues range from registration to asbestos litigation and military spending bills.

''The small proportion of money they are spending is related to the fact that they are not heavily regulated,'' said Tim La Pira, a lobbying researcher at the Center for Responsive Politics. ''Heavily regulated industries like banking or oil and gas spend an enormous amount of money because they have a history and legacy of being regulated.''

The hedge funds' main trade association does not appear to have significant financial influence either. From 1998 through 2006, the Managed Funds Association spent only $752,000 lobbying. Its political action committee raised $169,500 in 2006 and made contributions of $112,600. By way of comparison, Merrill Lynch spent $4 million in 2006 alone, and the Investment Company Institute, representing the mutual fund industry, spent $5.4 million last year.

Political contributions show a similar pattern: the numbers are growing, but pale against the wealth managed by the fast-growing industry. In 2006, individuals at hedge funds as well as their spouses (if the spouse does not list an independent source of income) contributed $6.2 million (69 percent to Democrats and 27 percent to Republicans). That was up from the 2004 election cycle when individuals gave $5 million (67 percent to Democrats and 33 percent to Republicans). Top donors include Richard Perry of Perry Capital and his wife, Lisa ($202,850 in 2006); Kenneth C. Griffin of the Citadel Investment Group and his wife, Anne, who works for Aragon Global Management ($192,857); and Robert Soros and his wife, Melissa, a filmmaker ($171,500), according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

But Washington has turned its attention to the fast-growing hedge fund industry -- as well as other alternative investment vehicles, like private equity. As members of Congress show growing interest, the industry seems increasingly resolved to make its case on Capitol Hill before another major hedge fund blow-up forces it to act on the defensive.